Amusement railway



July 29 1924. 1,502,699

H. J. TRAUBEL v AMUSEMENT RAILWAY Filed Sept. 25. 1923 Sheets-sheet 2 JNVENYTOR Henry] flwaelyb t l M ArroRNEm,

Patented July 29, 1924.

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HENRY J. TRAUBEL, GF GRESSKILL, NEW JERSEY..

AMUSEMENT RAILVIA'Y.

Application filed September I '0 all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY J. TRAUBEL, a. "Men of the UnitedStates, residing at 'Cresshill, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to amusement railways, and, has for its object to provide apparatus that will cause novel movements of the car and thereby afford new sensations and amusement to the passengers that may be carried therein.

lVith these objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4: is a plan view of the car; and

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the track is supported by a framework consisting of uprights 11, side members 12 and struts 13, and laid directly upon horizontal pieces 1a. The track 10 in this instance takes a helical course, and comprises a floor 15 and sides 16 and 17. On the inside of the side member 16 is a rack 18, intended to be engaged by an annular row of teeth on the outside of the circular car hereinafter to be described, and thereby giving rotary motion to the latter. Preferably, the floor 15 is slightly inclined towards the outside to insure the engagement of the annular row of teeth on the car with the rack 18. Otherwise there will not be a constant engagement of the car with the rack and its rotary motion will be somewhat interrupted. The convolutions of the track thought to be most suitable for the purposes of this invention are clearly shown in plan view in Fig. 2, but other forms may be adopted and may be extended to greater lengths. As an attendant will be required at "the point where the car begins its descent by gravity, a shed or other shelter is provided, as at 19, and a guard-rail 20 is placed around the circular flooring 21.

Adjacent to the framework of the track is 25,1923. Serial No. 66%,665.

an underground chamber 22, within which are located two uprights 23, suitably supported as at 2-1, and carrying racks adapt circular in plan view, and is intended to" carry the circular car shown in Figs. 4: and 5 to the upper end ofthe track 10. Also within the chamber 22'. and located midway between the'raclrs 20 is a fixed worm-shaft '30, passing freely through a central opening 31 in the platform 29. The car is, as already stated, circular. having a circular seat for passengers as at 33, and is supported on casters or swiveled wheels 34.

The car 32 has a central opening 35 from which a radial slot 35 extends to its peripher and, co-axially with its axis is a split-bushing 36 fixedly attached to the floor of the car, as at 36. The split-bushing 36 is hinged as at 37, and has a locking device 38, and is provided with an interior thread to mesh with the worm-shaft 30. A sleeve 39 is fixedly mounted upon the split-bushing and runs loosely over the worm-shaft 30, its purpose being to prevent passengers from coming in contact with the worm-shaft, and on the outside of the car, as at 10, is an annular row of teeth which mesh with the rack 18 to rotate the car on its descent over the track 10.

The operation of the elevated platform and car will now be clearly understood. When the platform is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the car may be moved on the platform, so that the slot 35 will take the wormshaft 30, care being exercised that the splitbushing is unlocked and the movable por tion thrown in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1; and, as the car is pushed to its position in the center of the platform, the worm-shaft 30 will find its proper place within the split-bushing, the threads of the two being in mesh, when the movable part of the bushing will be closed and locked. As the platform 29 is then moved upward by the starting of the motor 28, the car, due to the connection of the split-bushing with the worm-shaft 30, will rapidly rotate and will continue this motion until it is level with the upper part of the track 10, when being free of the wormshaft, it may be pushed by an attendant onto the track 10 to start on its run by gravity to the bottom of the track, and, as the teeth 40 on the outside of the car Will be in engagement With the rack 18 on the inside of the track, it will constantly rotate as it descends. Additional platforms may be established to take care of any number of cars operating over the same track. Various modifications may be made in the apparatus as I have illustrated and described it Which Will come Within the scope of my claims. For instance, the platform may be arranged so that the car Will be released from the Worm-shaft 30 and start its descent on the track 10 altogether by gravity and Without the intervention of an attendant.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. The combination With a gravity railway and a car adapted to travel thereon and having svviveled Wheels, of an elevator adapted to carry said car, and means connected to the car to cause the latter to rotate When raised by the elevator.

2-. The combination With a gravity rail- Way and a car adapted to travel thereon and having swiveled Wheels, of an elevator adapted to carry said car, a worm-shaft, and means connected to the car and 00-013- erating with the Worm-Shaft to cause the car to rotate When raised by the'elevator.

3. The combination with a gravity railway, of a circular car adapted to travel thereon-and having a central threaded open ing, and a radial slot, a Worm-shaft adapted to pass through said slot to mesh with the thread in the central opening of the car. and a vertically'moving platform to raise the car and rotate the same during its up- Ward movement.

HENRY J. TRAUBEL. 

